Isle to emerge from dark ages in new year as Eiggtricity switched on

Some of the 87 people living on Eigg are planning to hold parties to celebrate the fact they will finally be able to use electric toasters and kettles.

The change will be part of one of the greenest power schemes in the country – a 1.5 million solar, wind and hydro generating station.

It had been hoped to get all the island's residents connected to "Eiggtricity" – as it has been dubbed – before Christmas.

But weather and other commissioning issues have delayed the big switch-on until the new year.

Eigg's newest resident, Saira Renny, whose cottage currently has bottled gas, said: "I will be literally coming out of the dark ages. Mains electricity is going to revolutionise life here – as well as cut power bills substantially. I'm going to have an electricity party.

She went on: "All the parts of the new system are working, but they could not be synchronised in time for Christmas. But in the next couple of weeks, when the workmen return, we should be celebrating the arrival of mains electricity, and nobody will be more pleased than me."

The big switch-on comes just after the tenth anniversary of islanders buying Eigg.

The 87 people who live there have donated nearly 100,000 to the scheme.

Other funding has come from the European Union – through its regional development programme – the National Lottery and the Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company.

However, using green energy to give the neighbouring island of Muck mains electricity was hit by a series of disasters.

For much of last winter, its 35 residents had to do without electricity for five hours a day. Its 60ft high wind-turbine scheme was also broken for months.

But the people of Eigg, who have used their own diesel and small hydro-powered generators to provide energy for their homes, say they have learned from Muck's problems.

The aim of the Eigg project is to develop an electricity supply that is environmentally and economically sustainable.

At the heart of its scheme will be five wind turbines. The new "power station" will also incorporate solar-energy panels and three hydro-generation systems.

The grid will be supported by stand-by diesel generators and batteries, to guarantee continuous availability of power.

The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust has formed a company, Eigg Electric Ltd, to operate the network, which will provide electricity for the island's 37 houses and ten businesses.

Marie Carr, a guesthouse owner who currently relies on a small hydro generator for power, said: "There is a slightly different timescale to life here. People don't have nine-to-five lives, and so we don't get the morning and evening surges of electricity use.

"At the moment, people don't have electric kettles or toasters because of the demand on electricity.

"It seems inevitable that people will get more electrical appliances once the supply is reliable and affordable. We still want to encourage energy efficiency, but we can't police people.

"We need an uninterrupted electricity supply for computers. Even television is a bit of a luxury – you can't always switch it on when you would like to. It might mean missing an episode of a soap. There are lots of things that you take for granted until you don't have them."

She went on: "The island shop has fridges and freezers to store food. Although we've now improved the electricity supply quite drastically with the hydro system, there have been times when the power has gone off overnight and the freezer has defrosted. Food has had to be thrown away.

"It is the same in people's houses. The supply run to the island is once a fortnight and in the winter, when the weather is bad, sometimes the boat doesn't come, so people rely on food stored in freezers."

Islanders bought Eigg from its German owner in a 1.5 million community buy-out in 1997.